For professional soccer player Constantino Garza, fútbol es vida—soccer is life. His late papa, the most important person in Constantino's life, taught him that. And Constantino lives by this creed. But it takes a series of extraordinary, tragic, and happy events for him to learn what else life might be.

His life is turned upside down when, provoked by an act of betrayal, Constantino commits a vicious assault against the star player of his team. He decides to flee and leave his fútbol life—and the world he knew—behind him. To survive, he retreats to the jungle, a harsh environment and even harsher reality where Constantino must build a new home and a new life. He learns to construct a shelter, hunt, and scavenge for food. But, more importantly, he learns how to be close to other people: how to trust them, care for them, and genuinely love them.

What carries Constantino through his struggles—betrayal, violence, isolation, injury, death, and imprisonment—is the belief in a better life waiting for him in the future: fútbol es vida, never forget. Fútbol es vida is what keeps him alive.